


you'll never be alone

by Dawn



Series: the puppy chronicles [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Kara is extra, Lena Luthor Gets a Hug, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug, Lena Luthor-centric, Mentions of Cancer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 13:59:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12533140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawn/pseuds/Dawn
Summary: Lena smiles as she walks into the hospital, her high heels clicking on the floors. Nowadays, it’s difficult for her to pick a favorite day or favorite part of her week, and that’s all because of Kara.ORLena is having a really bad day and Kara decides to cheer her up in the most extra way possible.ORLena isn't the only extra one in the relationship.





	you'll never be alone

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing Supercorp fanfiction, because this idea just wouldn't leave me alone. It got a little away from me, though. There is some angst, but I promise you there is also a happy ending. 
> 
> @orangemonster33 was wonderful enough to beta this for me! <3
> 
> This takes place about two years after season 2, but the events of season 3 haven't happened yet. 
> 
> Sidenote: English is not my first language.

Every Friday, 10am sharp, Lena Luthor visits the Luthor Family Children's Hospital. There are never any meetings scheduled before 12.30, so she has enough time to spend at the hospital. It was a tradition she started when she moved to National City when her then new assistant Jess told her that she needs to spend at least _some_ time out of the office. Now it's almost two years later and these Friday mornings are her favorite part of the week.

Well, almost.

Lena smiles as she walks into the hospital, her high heels clicking on the floors. Nowadays, it’s difficult for her to pick a favorite day or favorite part of her week, and that’s all because of Kara. She glances at her phone quickly to look at the lock screen picture, a selfie of the two of them that Kara took a few days ago. Lena still thinks that she looks entirely too sleepy on it, and one of her eyes is only half open, but since Kara had dubbed it the cutest picture of all time and her smile is as radiant as ever, Lena hadn't changed it for another picture after her girlfriend set it up.

"Miss Luthor?"

Lena snaps out of her thoughts and slips her phone back into her purse to look up at the all too familiar nurse. "Nadine, good morning. How is everything?" She likes to get a small overview of things on her visits – how the patients are doing, if they have enough staff around, if they need any new supplies or machines, if the doctors need someone from the outside for consultations.

Nadine hesitates for a moment before speaking, but there is a small smile on her lips. "We are doing great. The kids are really eager to see you, Lizzie especially. They were so happy about the new toys for the common rooms, by the way. And all the Supergirl items. The smaller ones especially are loving the colouring books."

Lena smiles, although she doesn't miss the moment of hesitation in Nadine's answer. She knows something is wrong, but she can't tell what just yet. She clenches her jaw for a second and sighs. "Who should I go and see first?" There are a few kids who she goes to see every week. They have been here the longest and a part of Lena knows that some of them don't have much hope for going home anytime soon, if ever.

The nurse gives Lena a tired look and looks from Lena to the floor. "Maybe you can visit only Lizzie today? I don’t think the others would mind.” 

For a split second, Lena closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "It's not good, is it?"

Nadine just shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Ms Luthor. The doctors think she has a few days left, maybe a week at most. Things took a turn for the worse on Tuesday."

"But–" Lena wants to protest, but the words die in her throat before she can even get them out. She was getting better, that's what Lena wants to say. She was laughing loudly and eating and talking so so much. And despite everything, she was always so positive, never letting anything get her down. "I'll go keep her company for as long as I can. Does she know?"

"Yes, she knows everything," Nadine nods. "Thank you, Ms Luthor. If you have any questions afterwards, come and find me, alright?" She squeezes Lena's arm quickly, before going back to the nurse's station. She's always around on Friday mornings when Lena is visiting, and is usually the one to update her on the situation.

 

 

As she stops behind Lizzie's door, Lena takes a deep breath, and then another and another to fight away the tears that are threatening to spill. But she is a Luthor and thanks to years and years of practice, she manages to smile brightly as she opens the door. Her smile doesn't quite reach her eyes and she doesn't need to see herself to know it. "Hey Lizzie." She has to bite back a sob as Lizzie tries her best to return Lena's bright smile.

"Hi, Lena," she says with a smile and starts fumbling with her bed's remote so she can sit up. "I was hoping you would come and see me today. How long do you have? I have a lot to tell you."

"I'll stay for as long as you'll have me," Lena says as she sits down. Her voice is shaking a little, but Lizzie doesn't seem to notice. "I have all the time in the world." She sets her purse down next to the chair and moves herself a little closer to the teen's bed. As she looks at the bright pink scarf around Lizzie's head, she can remember the long blonde hair that used to come down to her shoulder.

"How's your girlfriend? I saw a picture of you two in a magazine the other day. It looked like you were having lunch. Both of you looked so happy, you especially." Her voice is quieter than Lena remembers, but despite everything there's a glint in her eyes.

"I think I know which one you're talking about," Lena nods and takes Lizzie's hand into hers, a small smile playing on her face now. "Kara always makes me happy," she bites her lower lip. "Do you want to see some more pictures? She's always stealing my phone to take photos of us."

"Would you really show me?" Lizzie looks up at Lena with hopeful eyes and she's obviously excited at the prospect.

"She's crazy photogenic," Lena says as she takes out her phone and opens the gallery app. She's pretty sure that about half of her photos include Kara in one way or another. "She thinks this is so cute," Lena shows the same picture that's on her lock screen. "I just think I look half asleep," she shrugs her shoulders and continues scrolling through the photos, commenting on most of them. There's a photo of the two of them kissing and Lena tries to scroll past it, but Lizzie stops her.

"Wait," she says quietly and puts her free hand on top of Lena's. She just stares at the screen for a while, and for the first time today Lena can actually see her smile falter and a frown settles on her face. "I'm never going to have that," she says quietly. "I'm never going to kiss a girl, I'm never going to fall in love."

Lena's first instinct is to lie and to tell Lizzie that it's going to be okay, that _she's_ going to be okay. She wants to tell her that she's going to be just fine, she's going to get out of the hospital and she's going to find a girl and fall in love and kiss her. But she can't bring herself to do it. It just doesn't seem right. "I know," she sighs. "It's so unfair and I wish there was something I could do." Lena pauses for a second. "I'm so sorry I can't help more."

"It's not your fault," Lizzie says and smiles softly once more. "It's no one's fault. It is what it is and there's no changing that." This time, it's her that squeezes Lena's hand as if to comfort her and the thought alone is ludicrous to Lena. "Tell me more about your girlfriend. I love how your face lights up when you talk about her."

Once again, Lena wants to protest because this isn't fair in any sort of way and it's her name on the hospital, she should be able to do something about it. "Did you tell your parents about–?"

She can't even get the question out properly before Lizzie shakes her head. "No, what's the point? It doesn't really matter now anyway, and I don't want to disappoint them any further."

"They have no reason to be disappointed in you now, and I'm sure you being gay wouldn't be a disappointment either," Lena says a little too sternly. Lizzie had come out to her a few months ago, when a picture of her and Kara kissing had appeared in almost every tabloid. "Anyway, more about Kara. Have I told you how she won an eating contest once?"

Lizzie shakes her head and smiles, as she leans back against the bed. "No, but I have a feeling that's an amusing story that I need to hear."

Despite the fact that Lizzie told Lena at first that she had so much to tell her, it's Lena who does most of the talking. She tells her some cute and funny stories about Kara, about Supergirl and even about some of the experiments they are doing in the L-Corp labs.

 

 

It's half past one when Lena finally walks past Jess's table. "Cancel all my meetings for today and don't let anyone into the office." She clutches her purse tightly to her body and doesn't really give Jess an opportunity to talk as she breezes past her so fast.

Of course, Jess doesn't really leave it at that and walks after Lena. "Ms Luthor, is everything alright? Did something happen at the hospital?" This isn't the first time her boss has come back from her Friday visits upset and she can only guess what's happened.

Lena sighs as she sits down at her table. "I'm fine. Just– I don't want to talk to anyone today." She puts her purse away and opens her laptop.

"Ms Danvers called about ten minutes ago. She was worried because you hadn't been answering her texts." Jess wants to gauge just how bad the situation is.

At Jess's words, Lena takes out her phone to see a missed call and four new messages from Kara. It's not that she's overbearing or anything of the sort, as it has become tradition for the two of them to exchange messages after they have been at work for a few hours. "You can tell her that I made it to work safe and sound and my life is not at risk. Now, I'd like to be alone." She says it in a way that leaves no room for discussion.

As Jess leaves the office, because she knows better than to argue with her boss, she sees Lena pouring herself a glass of scotch out of the corner of her eye. The second she sits down at her own table, she calls Kara back. "Hello, Ms Danvers? This is Jess," she introduces herself, her impeccable manners shining through as per usual.

"Jess!" Kara exclaims a little too loudly. "Is she alright? I sent her another text and she still hasn't answered, and while I don't want to be _that_ girlfriend, I'm starting to be really worried. What if–"

"Ms Danvers," Jess cuts in with a sigh. It's cute, it really is, but she does not have the time for her usual rambles. "She just came to the office, but she had me cancel all her meetings and told me she doesn't want to see anyone. She also asked me to tell you that she made it to work safe and sound and her life is not at risk," Jess quotes the words back to Kara. "I am also quite certain that I saw her  pour a glass of scotch."

Jess can almost hear Kara frown on the other end of the phone. "So, I should come over there?"

"Absolutely, Ms Danvers," Jess says with a small smile. "See you soon."

 

 

It's about half an hour later when Kara walks into Lena's office without knocking. "Hi," she says softly, as she slowly opens the doors. "You weren't answering my texts, so I thought I'd come over and see how things are. I brought lunch. And donuts." The empty scotch glass doesn't go unnoticed to Kara, nor the fact that Lena has moved from her office chair to the white sofa.

Lena looks up from her computer the moment she hears the door open, ready to chew out anyone who dared to disobey her wishes. "I'm fine," she insists, only looking at Kara for a short moment. "Didn't Jess call you?"

"She did," Kara nods and closes the door behind herself before she makes her way to the couch. She sets the take out bags onto the table and sits down next to Lena. "But I wanted to make sure myself. Besides, it's lunch time and you need to eat." She knows her girlfriend well enough to know that she hasn't eaten anything since breakfast. And Kara's sure that calling a cup of coffee and avocado toast breakfast is stretching it in the first place.

"I'm not really hungry," Lena says and concentrates on her laptop once more. She knows that Kara means well, but she needs to be alone right now. A part of her feels guilty for that, for wanting to push her girlfriend away, but she can't help it. Her first  instinct is still to pull away, to recoil. "I'm sorry I didn't answer your texts, it took me a little longer at the hospital than usual."

"Lena," Kara sighs and puts her hand onto her girlfriend's free one. Lena can sense how she wants to ask her what's wrong or what happened. Instead, after a moment of hesitation, she leans her head onto Lena's shoulder and glances at the laptop. "Whatcha working on?"

"I'm reading some medical records and articles on a few clinical trials," Lena answers. She doesn't want to admit how comforting Kara's hand on hers feels, or how much she just wants to hide her face into Kara's shoulders and feel her strong arms around her. She just bites her lower lip and tries not to think of Kara next to her.

"Are you sure you're not hungry?" Kara doesn't let go of Lena's hand, but she leans forward and grabs one of the take out bags. "I got your favorite from that Chinese place near CatCo. I asked them to add extra kale and everything. And I even got some vegetables for myself," Kara rambles on as she takes out the boxes with food and places them on the table, and then pulls out a few napkins and chopsticks. "And, of course, I got some potstickers."

Any other day, any other moment, Lena would have smiled at the mention of potstickers. Instead, she tries to just tune out everything that Kara is saying. "I'm really not hungry," she says and doesn't even look at Kara. "I just –" She isn't even a hundred percent sure of exactly what she wants. A part of her wants to melt into Kara, to be held. But a part of her wants to just be alone, draw the blinds in front of the windows and pour herself another glass of scotch.

Kara doesn't say anything, just looks at Lena and squeezes her hand, as if to say that it's okay, whatever she wants, whatever it is, whatever happened. She wants to ask Lena about it so badly, but she knows the other woman well enough to know that there is no point.

Lena looks at their joint hands, feels how her own are starting to shake, and she takes a breath to steady herself. "Kara, please, just–" She takes another deep breath as she can already feel an all too familiar burning behind her eyes. "I just need to be alone right now. I need to look through these, and I can't do that when you're here."

"You need to eat," Kara says firmly. "You can take ten minutes to eat a little bit of Chinese and a donut. You can take that time, honey. The research and medical records aren't going to run away from you." She squeezes Lena's hand and tries to catch her eyes, but it's no use. "Please? For me? And then I'll get out of your hair."

"No, Kara, I _don't_ have the time," Lena snaps and pulls her hand away from Kara's. She gets up, taking her empty glass with her, and fills half of it with scotch at the liquor table, before she turns back to her girlfriend. "Because she doesn't have time at all. And I _need_ to do something, because otherwise I have let her down just like everyone else."

Kara ignores the sharp way that Lena pulls away from her, the harsh tone of her voice. "Lena, what are you talking about? You haven't let anyone down." She speaks softly, her brows furrowed in confusion a little bit, the notorious crinkle making an appearance. As much as she had wanted to be subtle, it wasn't working any longer.

"Yes, I have," Lena says, sounding every bit as defeated as she feels. "I let Lizzie down," she says quietly. "Just like everyone else in her life, I let her down, because I can't help her. I'm just like her mom and dad who ignored her when she said that she's in pain. I'm just like her general doctor, who simply said that it's just growing pains. Just like her trainer, who brushed off her symptoms as bumps and bruises."

The tears that had been threatening to spill ever since she had entered the hospital room earlier that day, were finally fighting their way out. "They all ignored her, and now she's dying," Lena says as she finally really looks at Kara, her glass of scotch long forgotten. "And, Kara, there is nothing I can do," she says quietly, as a sob escapes her throat.

Kara is at Lena's side in mere seconds, and Lena is sure that she actually used her super speed. "It's not– It's not your fault, Lena," she says and wraps her arms around her girlfriend in a hug that is surprisingly gentle for someone with so much strength. "I know you've done everything you could have, and then some," she whispers into Lena's ear and starts to stroke her hair. She knows about the kids Lena visits every week, although not all the details about their medical histories, and she has even gone with her a couple of times as Supergirl to surprise the children. She knows just how deeply she cares for  each and every one of them.

Lena buries her head into Kara's shoulder and practically curls herself into her, as her body starts to shake with sobs. "It is so fucking unfair," she whispers. "They all ignored her," she says through gritted teeth. "Ewing's Sarcoma can usually be treated when it's discovered early on, she would have had such good chances. But they just ignored her, kept making excuses and brushing off her pain, how she was feeling, and now–" She doesn't even finish the sentence, can't really.

Kara just tries to whisper sweet and comforting nothings into Lena's ear as she strokes her hair in a way that she knows Lena likes. "I know," she murmurs, and she knows that it isn't exactly comforting, but it's something. She knows that it isn't _just_ about Lizzie, but she isn't going to poke or probe. Lena has already opened herself up to her in so many ways and it would be cruel of her to ask for more.

“I was supposed to find the cure for cancer.”

The words are barely above a whisper, and Kara is sure that if she didn’t have super hearing she wouldn’t have heard Lena at all. “You will,” she murmurs and swallows a lump in her own throat. "Hey, do you maybe want to go and visit her again tomorrow? I could come with you," Kara offers up and tries to guide them to the sofa. "As Supergirl," she says as she sits down and pulls Lena into her lap.

Lena shakes her head. "No," she finally lifts her head from Kara's shoulder. "Come as you, as Kara. I think Lizzie would really like to meet you. I've told her so much about you."

"That sounds like a plan," Kara smiles, and wipes some tears off of Lena's cheeks, although they are replaced by new ones almost instantly. "How about I take you home now, though?" She doubts that Lena is going to get much work done now anyway, but she isn't going to say anything about that.

"I still have so much I need to do," Lena looks down again,  avoiding Kara's eyes, as she plays with the collar of her shirt absentmindedly.

"You can have a look at the research at home, you know," Kara says. "Jess told me you had her cancel all your meetings, so there is really no reason for you to stay here." She tries to catch Lena's eyes, but it's no use. "Please?" She wants to remind Lena that she's upset, but that seems more than a little redundant.

After a moment, Lena sighs and looks up at Kara. "You're probably right." All she really wants to do right now is crawl under some blankets and sleep. "I'll call my driver."

"You know, I can just fly you there in like two minutes," Kara says with a smile, her hands still around Lena's waist as she refuses to let go.

"You came in here as Kara Danvers, though, so it would looks a little suspicious if I just disappeared with Supergirl," Lena points out.

"It's alright, I can just go out as Kara and come back as Supergirl. I'll be back in a jiffy, I promise," Kara says and kisses Lena's forehead. "I love you," she murmurs against porcelain skin.

"I know," Lena smiles weakly, both because of the declaration of love, and because her girlfriend just used the word jiffy. "I love you too, so much."

 

 

It's past midnight when Lena hears Kara fumbling at her front door with her key. "Lena?" she calls out once she has let herself in, quietly enough that if Lena were asleep, she wouldn't hear her.

"I'm in the bedroom," Lena calls out, and right now, she doesn't mean anything naughty by it. She has just wanted to cuddle with Kara ever since the moment that she came home. "Wanna come join me?"

"Sorry for not coming sooner," Kara says as she pops her head, and just her head, into the bedroom. "Supergirl stuff kept me busy."

"I know," Lena smiles and sits up in her bed. One side of the bed is almost covered with different papers and some magazines and her laptop seems to be buried somewhere under there. "I watched you on the news."

"I have a surprise for you," Kara blurts out, while still refusing to move from her spot at the door. She almost looks like a strange ghost, a weird retelling of the headless horseman, where the head keeps floating in the doorway, throwing nervous glances at Lena.

"You have a surprise for me?" Lena asks, her left brow raising with her voice.

"I do," Kara nods and smiles a little too sheepishly. "Can you come out here for it, though? It's kinda … big."

Lena shakes her head in amusement just a little, because usually she's the one being all sorts of ridiculous with gifts. She pulls on a robe on top of her pyjamas, which consist of some dark blue boxer briefs and a Supergirl's #1 FAN shirt, which never ceases to amuse Kara. When she walks out of the bedroom, she sees that Kara is hiding something in her cape and that something seems to be… squirming? 

"Kara?"

"If you don't like it, I can totally take her back. I just– You were having a bad day and we found them a few weeks ago in an alleyway behind the DEO. And I know giving pets as gifts is kind of rude, but this one especially kind of reminded me of you. She kept trying to protect all the other ones," Kara rambles on, not really looking at Lena. And then she pulls the cape off the figure partly, to reveal a puppy in her arms. "And you were having such a bad day and I thought that this might cheer you up. But if you don't actually want a dog, then that's fine too. Don't worry about it. I'll just take her back to the DEO." Kara takes a very deep breath and finally looks at Lena, waiting for her to say something.

"You got me a dog?" Lena asks after a moment, her mouth slightly agape. She keeps looking between her girlfriend and the puppy. 

"You were having a bad day," Kara says quietly and bites her lower lip.

"So, you got me a dog?" Lena asks, still not quite believing it.

"A Superdog, actually," Kara says with a wide smile. "Alex has been looking into the effects of orange kryptonite recently, and since you get so many death threats and everything, we thought this might be a good idea." Kara leans down a little and fidgets with the orange glowing pendant that hangs from the dog's orange collar. The dog licks her cheek and Kara giggles.

"Wait, orange kryptonite?" Lena asks as she steps closer to Kara and tentatively lets the dog sniff her before petting her.

"Oh, right," Kara makes a raspberry with her mouth and rolls her eyes. "Orange kryptonite gives pets superpowers," she beams. "It works for twenty-four hours, but Alex thinks that if she always has that pendant on her, she should have superpowers twenty-four seven. So, even when I'm not around, you have someone to look out for you."

"And it's not harmful to you?" The worry is still written all over Lena's face.

"Nope," Kara says, making a popping noise at the 'p'.

"You got me a dog," Lena smiles and scratches her behind her ear. "Does she have a name?"

"You can name her," Kara smiles. "Alex named hers Gertrude. That's like the worst dog name ever." She pauses for a moment. "She thinks they're Rottweiler mixes, from what we can see from the mother."

"We can decide on something together," Lena decides then and there. She pets the dog's soft paws and smiles, as she wags her tail against Kara. "And you'll have to help me with her," she adds. "With puppy school and potty training her and walking and everything."

"Of course," Kara says, like it's the most natural thing ever. "She can be our dog, if you'd like that." 

Lena feels like she's about to cry again. "Can I hold her?"

"Oh, right," Kara shakes her head and untangles the puppy from her cape and hands her over to Lena. "So, does this mean we can keep her?"

"Of course we can keep her," Lena laughs and tears actually well in her eyes. "Hi," she whispers and hugs the dog. She barks happily and licks Lena's cheek, and Lena can feel her tail thumping against her stomach softly. "What are we going to name you?"

Kara panics slightly at the sight of tears and wraps her arms around Lena's shoulders. "Are those happy tears?" she asks softly, as she kisses Lena's temple.

"Happy tears," Lena nods and kisses the dog’s nose before turning to Kara. "Thank you," she says faintly. "For always being here."

"Always," Kara smiles and kisses Lena softly on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you too," Lena sighs happily against Kara's lips and kisses her again. "How about Ruth Bader Ginsbark?"

"What?"

"For the name," Lena says and puts the dog down.

"How about we put that on the no list and keep thinking," Kara laughs and wraps her arms around Lena.

 "J. K Growling?"

"You're ridiculous," Kara shakes her head.

"You love it though," Lena smiles.

"I do."

**Author's Note:**

> All comments and kudos would be very much appreciated!
> 
> I might write a second part to this if there is interest. 
> 
> You can catch me on tumblr @lesbianl-luthor. Feel free to come and chat about Supercorp related stuff!


End file.
